WhereIzMegan

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving!!

So here at Mc Murdo the kitchen staff all work on the holidays that everyone else gets off so Monday was my "Thanksgiving." I spent the day doing laundry, going on a tour of the Waste Barn, going to the the ob tube again, and while we were there got to do some fishing(I'll explain more in a minute), came back had dinner, lowered my bed to a height I can easily climb onto without the aid of my nightstand, vacuumed and chatted with friends. A great holiday! I am very thankful for many things and many people. I am so glad to be here at Mc Murdo and to have a job. I'm thankful for my health. And I'm very thankful for the new friends that have become my family and support system here. Most importantly I am thankful for my family and friends at home supporting me in my travels around the world.

Ok this fishing you are wondering about... as Grace, Baxter, and I walked to the ob tube we noticed that there were people in the fishing/diving hut nearby the ob tube. When we looked in the window we were invited inside. A scientist that goes by the nickname of Sandwich was fishing with the aid of two gentleman.

	One a cook that I know, Matt, and the other a guy I've never met. We took turns fishing and going down the ob tube. The view was the same down the tube as before and you couldn't see the fishing lines. The catch was just one for the day. The lucky pole was the Barbie pole! We stayed for about an hour fishing and chatting. And yes, just fishing, no catching while we were there.
the fish caught by the Barbie Pole

Matt, left and Sandwich, right. Fishing away

Matt and I fishing

More Ice as seen from the Ob Tube

Brr!!

Tuesday I walked around the Crary Labs for a little while and signed up for a tour next Tuesday.

Inside Crary Lab.

Scott’s Discovery Hut Tour and Hut Point

8:30am I am waiting bundled up for the tour to begin. Presented by one of my co-workers, a group of 6 of us headed out towards the ice pier and Hut Point. It was a sunny day with a bit of wind but picturesque. After walking for about 15 minutes we arrived at Scott’s Hut which is a prefab structure built in February of 1902. Our greeter was the carcass of a seal that is roughly 100 years old laying outside the hut.

The hut was untouched from 1917 until 1956 when US explorers dug it out and found how well preserved it was. It has remained much the same. There is a New Zealand team that is refurbishing some of the artifacts found inside. We had to clean our boots off before entering and we were issued flashlights. We saw things like dog biscuits, pots and pans, mittens, socks, tools, and some really old meat hanging on the walls. After signing the visitors log we headed up Hut Point to the a wooden cross erected in 1902 to commemorate Seaman George T. Vince, the first man to lose his life in McMurdo Sound, following a fall into the water from a steep, icy slope nearby during a blizzard. Also above the hut is the Our Lady of the Snows Shrine, a madonna statue that commemorates Richard T. Williams, a Seabee tractor driver who drowned off Cape Royds in January 1956 when his 30- ton tractor broke through the sea ice. I visited this yesterday when I walked back out here for the second time.

A little history about the hut...

In January 1902, the British Royal Navy's Captain Robert Falcon Scott and his crew of 50 men arrived aboard the 700-ton vessel Discovery. During this expedition, Scott's party built the "Discovery Hut" (often called Scott's Hut) near the site of McMurdo Station as a land base for sledging treks on the island and onto the ice shelf. Scott also named many prominent features including Mt. Discovery and the Royal Society Range (for his sponsors). An attempt to reach the South Pole by sledge accomplished a farthest south of 82o71' on 30 December 1902. Before the polar attempt, a three-man party made a 6-week mid-winter sledging journey around the south side of Ross Island to Cape Crozier to collect emperor penguin eggs.
The next occupants of the "Discovery Hut" were Ernest Shackleton and three companions in 1909. In 1907 Shackleton arrived aboard the Nimrod at the Bay of Whales on the Ross Ice Shelf to begin an expedition to the South Pole. Decided this location was too dangerous for the approach, Shackleton sailed further south. On 3 February 1908, he landed at the Cape Royds where he built his base. After an exhausting man-hauling sledge journey of 17 weeks that included discovery and ascent of the Beardmore Glacier, he and his three companions came within 97 nautical miles of the Pole; to have gone farther with their depleted rations would have meant death on the return trek. They returned to the "Discovery Hut", barely reaching the site in time to catch the Nimrod on 1 March 1909 as it prepared for the return to England.
Scott returned to McMurdo Sound in January 1911. Unable to get to his former base at Hut Point because of the ice pack, he landed at a point 20 kilometers to the north, which he named Cape Evans in honor of his second- in-command. The objective of his expedition was again both scientific and to reach the Pole. During this expedition (British Antarctic Expedition, 1910-1913), the "Discovery Hut" served as a supply depot for the journey south. An advance sledging party placed supply depots along the way, as far as the polar plateau beyond the head of the Beardmore Glacier. Shetland ponies and Siberian huskies were used during the first half of the journey. One by one, the ponies were shot and used for meat for the dogs and men. The journey was completed by man-hauling the sledges. After 2-1/2 months, they reached the Pole on 18 January 1912, only to find that Amundsen's party had preceded them by more than a month.

A great quick tour before heading to work. As I mentioned I went out again yesterday to Hut Point and visited the Our Lady of the Snows Shrine.

Pictures can be found at... https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.682778010679.2143181.44801562&type=1&l=e2a7b5abca

Mc Murdo’s Inner Workings A Series of Tours… Waste Water Treatment Plant

Just down the hill from most of the buildings at Mc Murdo is building 199, the Water Treatment facility where there are 3 employees working hard to take care of business… our business.

The cast of characters: myself, Levi, Julie, and Jason.

We met Rick, one of three waste employees, at one of the bars the night before and arranged a tour of the facility to see what exactly happens after you flush here.

We arrived at 3pm sharp, greeted by Rick and our tour started with an overview presented via a poster created to help one understand the process. We then gloved up and started at the beginning, the Muffin Monster Masticator.


Muffin Monster Masticator #1 and #2

Now, you might be thinking I am making this up but it is the trademarked name! And technically speaking we actually have two. This is used to break up any solids. Officially this is all we have to have according to the Antarctic Treaty, but we have much more! Next is the flow meter which measure the volume of incoming waste which leads to the aeration tanks which separates the clarified water from the solids which go to the digester.

Aeration Tanks

From there the solids go through the belt filter press which mixes some goo in to help bind things and it gets placed in a box to be sent back to the USA.

Belt Filter Press

A "cake" all boxed up ready to be sent to the USA

The clarified water goes through a set of UV lights and then through another flow meter and out into McMurdo Sound.

UV lights at work

Rick showed us around to all of this and then took us to the lab where we looked at some samples from the process to make sure everything is working right. Seeing the worms, which are normal in the samples, was enough to make me squirm.

The whole tour was very interesting and I'm glad to know that everything is taken care of.

More pictures available at...

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.682782272139.2143184.44801562&type=1&l=2b69d748e6